Campbell Bay Islands’ Lone Operated Ice Plant Repaired, Brings Relief for Fishermen

John Wilbert &Vikramaditya
Port Blair, Mar 24: The lone operated ice plant run by the Fisheries Department in Campbell Bay Islands has been permanently repaired, bringing great relief for the fishermen of the Island. The plant was out of order since last month, forcing fishermen to dispose of their catch within 24 hours because no alternative storage facilities were available. The issue was highlighted by Andaman Sheekha Daily on 10th March 2023, and the Fisheries Department had assured to repair the Ice Plant as early as possible while talking to this Press.
Although it took nearly 10 days for the Fisheries Department to repair the Ice Plant from when repair work started due to transportation problems and arranging spare parts from the mainland, the fishermen of Campbell Bay are now demanding the complete renovation of the cold storage building and its approach road so that they can get maximum storage space to store their fish.
As per the information received, the lone operated ice plant in Campbell Bay Islands is now providing ice blocks and storage facilities for the fishermen. A senior officer of the Fisheries Department said that the ice plant machine was completely repaired a few days ago, and the ice plant started providing ice blocks and storage facilities on 23rd March 2023. “For now, the ice plant is fulfilling the demands of fishermen, and there is no scarcity of ice blocks,” he claimed.
The officer further stated that due to gas leakage, the APWD staff had stopped the renovation work. But the plant is now repaired, and he requested to start the complete the repair work soon. He assured that 90 percent of the renovation work of the permanent structure of the ice plant and approach road has already been completed. After starting work within a week, the remaining work will also be completed.
The repair of the ice plant has come as a great relief for the fishermen of Campbell Bay Islands. With the plant operational again, the fishermen will no longer have to dispose of their catch within 24 hours due to the unavailability of storage facilities.